- (Gmail. Chrome. Android. The Man Behind it All)
- (The Man Behind Your Favourite Search Engine).
- (Ashok Nagar to Alphabet: The Journey of Sundar Pichai)
Description: Sundar Pichai was named the Alphabet CEO, and yet, it is one
Sundar Pichai
How long are fifteen years?
Sundar Pichai was recently named the CEO of Alphabet. As is the case with all such announcements, people tend to glow over the achievement. Pichai himself is doubtlessly drowning in congratulatory messages.
And yet, there is a serious failure to see the amount of work that the man has put in behind the scenes. In his fifteen years at Google, Sundar rose through the ranks and worked on some of Google’s most popular offerings such as Google Drive, Chrome, Android, and Gmail. He also oversaw the development of Google Maps.
Fifteen years. It took him fifteen years to climb the echelons of the world’s most advanced technology company. At this moment, when one looks back and wonders where the journey began, how far would one go? Three years? Fifteen years?
In the case of Pichai, we will have to go back twenty-six years. We have to go back to 1993.
IIT Kharagpur, Metallurgy, and One C Grade
When we talk of Pichai, we have to talk about IIT.
Sundar Pichai joined IIT Kharagpur in 1993, opting for metallurgical engineering. At the time, the IITs served as institutions that would go on to create some of the brightest minds of the twenty-first century.
Pichai was one of them. He took admission at IIT under the name P Sundararajan. In a short span of time, he was able to show his academic prowess to his faculty and peers. Many still recall him as being a stoic and hardworking young man with a steely-eyed determination to be somewhere.
Nobody could really imagine where he would be in 2019.
India back then hadn’t even fathomed the idea of the internet. Computers were still an enigma to the mass populace, and cellphones had barely managed to gain penetration in big or small cities.
It is quaint how a student living in a country with no technological temper to later go on to head one of the biggest tech companies in the world.
And yet, somehow, this is not strange at all. A lamp that lights a dark room is no way greater than all the darkness in the world. Yet, the lamp is resilient in stopping darkness from existing in one small place in the world.
Pichai may have grown up in India at a time when an internet connection seemed sorcery and a computer was deemed by some as a box from an alternate dimension, but it didn’t matter. A lamp doesn’t care for all the darkness in the world. It cares for the part it can light up.
In his time at IIT, he received a C grade in one of his subjects. Yes, even brilliance has a few spots.
After his time at IIT, Pichai went on to pursue an MS from Stanford and an MBA from Stamford, adding more checkmarks to his illustrious resume.
And then, he came to Google in 2004, beginning his fifteen-year journey to where he is today.
Chrome, Drive, Maps, and Gmail
In 2004, Pichai joined Google and began leading the effort to create a new web browser. The web browser was supposed to dethrone the likes of Internet Explorer and Firefox and make Google central to the browsing experience of modern netizens.
The browser later went on to become Chrome. Chrome is now the most used web browser in the world.
During this time, he also oversaw the development of Chrome OS. His role in the development of Google Drive was also crucial. His contributions to these big projects didn’t go unnoticed as he slowly became a well-known tech professional in Silicon Valley.
Later overseeing the development of Google Maps and Gmail, Pichai kept adding prime Google products to his resume. In 2013, the big moment came when he was handed control of Android on top of the other Google products he was handling. Becoming the point man of the most used mobile OS in the world, Pichai stepped into the spotlight nine years into his journey at Google.
The spotlight didn’t do anything to change the stoic student he was at IIT twenty years back. Unperturbed by his own mounting success, Pichai kept improving his profile as a big name in the tech sector.
Microsoft?
In 2014, Microsoft began looking for a new CEO. Steve Ballmer was leaving his post after fourteen years at the helm of the once biggest tech company in the world.
And who was in the running to become the new CEO of Microsoft? The track record of Pichai at Google made him a prime candidate to become the top dog at Microsoft. The rumor mill of Silicon Valley kept buzzing, linking the Google man to the top job at Microsoft.
Along with Pichai, another Indian-born executive going by Satya Nadella was considered by many to take the top job.
The job eventually went to Nadella, though the episode made one thing very clear.
Pichai had entered the big league.
Mr. CEO in 2015
Google underwent a major reshuffle in 2015 as the company became subsumed by a new parent company called Alphabet Inc.
Larry Page, the founder of Google and CEO at the time went on to become the CEO of Alphabet, leaving the CEO hot seat at Google open. Given Pichai’s popularity at Google and in the technology sector in general, he was named the CEO on August 10, 2015.
The following years saw him take Google forward into the end of the decade. As concerns about user privacy and data security became mainstream, Pichai stood firm and led the company down a tough road.
To Alphabet, and the Gift of Fifteen Years
How long are fifteen years?
To many, the past fifteen years may have seemed like a slog. A never-ending pit of time filled with memories and events.
For others, it was an opportunity. For Pichai, it was the chance the head one of the biggest tech companies in the world.
On December 4, Pichai was named the CEO of Alphabet, thereby making him the highest-ranked executive at the company. He replaced Larry Page, the founder of Google who has now joined the board of directors along with fellow co-founder Sergey Brin.
Pichai’s elevation has been an empty appointment. His bet to make Google the center of AI has been met by positive responses from the tech industry. Slated to be the future of computing and tech, AI will play a defining role in the future.
So, how long are fifteen years?
For some, fifteen years is too short a time. Some can stay still for fifteen years. Others can keep their heads down and let their work do the talking.
If there is one thing we can learn from Pichai, it is that anything can happen in fifteen years!
About the Author – Gaurav Heera is a digital marketing trainer and founder of DelhiCourses.in. He founded the institute back in 2008. DelhiCourses.in is considered the best option for studying a digital marketing course in Delhi.
